Black Plantation Life in the 1850s

Published: Wednesday, January 1, 2003 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, September 22, 2003 at 8:49 a.m.

An inventory of Fredrick S. Lucius' holdings, from his will probated in 1858, included 20 slaves.

Marion County Museum of History

The blacks on the South's plantations were critical to that society's economics, and therefore, its way of life.

In fact, according to the will of one Frederick S. Lucius, probated in 1858, his 280 acres in Marion County and 20 slaves made up $11,200 of his $18,000 estate. His land was worth only $3,660, his crop that year worth $1,500.

It was on the smaller farms where life for the slave was more humane, according to the Rev. O. Van Pinkston. Pinkston's father was born two years after slavery ended, and the stories of Pinkston's grandparents' time in slavery have survived through oral history -- in the same way most accounts of the slave's perspective have lived on.

Pinkston, 91, and a leader in the Ocala civil rights movement since the 1960s, tells how the larger plantations were fraught with politics among the early African Americans. There were so many slaves, the owner would depend on white-loyal blacks, so-called "Uncle Toms," to reveal any impending escapes.

Pinkston's grandparents, both house slaves, worked on a smaller plantation. There, some of the white family members secretly taught the house slaves how to read and write. Both of his father's parents came out of the Civil War literate. Why the secrecy? For legal and social reasons, teaching slaves was against the law, and there was a saying of the time, says Pinkston: "If you teach a slave how to read, you teach them not to be a slave."

Another Marion County African-American shared a story of warmth between owner and slave. Lois Miller's grandmother was the daughter of a Williston plantation owner -- Miller's grandfather was a slave on that plantation. The two grew up together on the farm and fell in love, later marrying and having six children.

Her grandmother was apparently not completely ostracized from her white culture. She attended a white church, says Miller. The love affair ended with the death of her grandfather, reportedly at the hands of his wife's brothers.

The great-granddaughter of one slave and owner's son did not have a warm relationship to relate.

Ocalan Jennie L. Harris remembers stories from her grandmother of being shuttled into the parlor before guests, apparently as evidence of the plantation owner's youngest son's "adventures." The young man was the child slave's father. There was no relationship between the two, only a common bond in blood.

"My grandmother didn't remember this with any pride," said Harris.

Pinkston's father told him the house slaves tended to be racially mixed, because they were the ones sought out by the white men. The field hands were safe from such trysts.

On the road, slaves could be stopped by anyone for any reason. The African Americans sent to shop or visit their spouses had to come armed with papers that showed permission to travel and ownership.

The servants in the home had much more freedom, according to historian Earl DeBary. He tells the story of one local trusted slave who would periodically get a month off to go "drinking and fishing."

House slaves ate better food, had better clothes, and their families were often allowed to stay together.

Harris said her grandmother lived with her family, with the child's grandmother as the matriarch. The little girl was not expected to work. The children on the Georgia plantation where Pinkston's grandparents lived did work.

The lot of the field hand was quite different. Life could be very difficult, Harris was told. DeBary says that's because the fields were managed by an overseer who wasn't part of the family, while the home was managed by the wife of the landowner.

The field hands and the house slaves weren't allowed to communicate, says Pinkston. Notes had to be passed secretly. And there were the now famous coded songs. For example, "Swing low, sweet chariot" meant a group with the Underground Railroad was coming through that night, so be ready.

<p>Two worlds couldn't be more separate, yet one so dependent on the other.</p><p>The blacks on the South's plantations were critical to that society's economics, and therefore, its way of life.</p><p>In fact, according to the will of one Frederick S. Lucius, probated in 1858, his 280 acres in Marion County and 20 slaves made up $11,200 of his $18,000 estate. His land was worth only $3,660, his crop that year worth $1,500.</p><p>It was on the smaller farms where life for the slave was more humane, according to the Rev. O. Van Pinkston. Pinkston's father was born two years after slavery ended, and the stories of Pinkston's grandparents' time in slavery have survived through oral history -- in the same way most accounts of the slave's perspective have lived on.</p><p>Pinkston, 91, and a leader in the Ocala civil rights movement since the 1960s, tells how the larger plantations were fraught with politics among the early African Americans. There were so many slaves, the owner would depend on white-loyal blacks, so-called "Uncle Toms," to reveal any impending escapes.</p><p>Pinkston's grandparents, both house slaves, worked on a smaller plantation. There, some of the white family members secretly taught the house slaves how to read and write. Both of his father's parents came out of the Civil War literate. Why the secrecy? For legal and social reasons, teaching slaves was against the law, and there was a saying of the time, says Pinkston: "If you teach a slave how to read, you teach them not to be a slave."</p><p>Another Marion County African-American shared a story of warmth between owner and slave. Lois Miller's grandmother was the daughter of a Williston plantation owner -- Miller's grandfather was a slave on that plantation. The two grew up together on the farm and fell in love, later marrying and having six children.</p><p>Her grandmother was apparently not completely ostracized from her white culture. She attended a white church, says Miller. The love affair ended with the death of her grandfather, reportedly at the hands of his wife's brothers.</p><p>The great-granddaughter of one slave and owner's son did not have a warm relationship to relate.</p><p>Ocalan Jennie L. Harris remembers stories from her grandmother of being shuttled into the parlor before guests, apparently as evidence of the plantation owner's youngest son's "adventures." The young man was the child slave's father. There was no relationship between the two, only a common bond in blood.</p><p>"My grandmother didn't remember this with any pride," said Harris.</p><p>Pinkston's father told him the house slaves tended to be racially mixed, because they were the ones sought out by the white men. The field hands were safe from such trysts.</p><p>On the road, slaves could be stopped by anyone for any reason. The African Americans sent to shop or visit their spouses had to come armed with papers that showed permission to travel and ownership.</p><p>The servants in the home had much more freedom, according to historian Earl DeBary. He tells the story of one local trusted slave who would periodically get a month off to go "drinking and fishing."</p><p>House slaves ate better food, had better clothes, and their families were often allowed to stay together.</p><p>Harris said her grandmother lived with her family, with the child's grandmother as the matriarch. The little girl was not expected to work. The children on the Georgia plantation where Pinkston's grandparents lived did work.</p><p>The lot of the field hand was quite different. Life could be very difficult, Harris was told. DeBary says that's because the fields were managed by an overseer who wasn't part of the family, while the home was managed by the wife of the landowner.</p><p>The field hands and the house slaves weren't allowed to communicate, says Pinkston. Notes had to be passed secretly. And there were the now famous coded songs. For example, "Swing low, sweet chariot" meant a group with the Underground Railroad was coming through that night, so be ready.</p>